Morgellons Disease

(Morgellons syndrome)

What is Morgellons disease?

Morgellons disease (Morgellon's, Morgellons syndrome) is a relatively new and poorly understood problem, most visibly affecting the skin. It is characterised by uncomfortable sensations in and/or under the skin, such as "biting", "stinging" or "clawing". These are often accompanied by small black or coloured granules or micro-fibres, which may protrude from the skin. The sites where the micro-fibres exit the skin are frequently accompanied by persistent and poorly healing sores/ lesions.

Many sufferers also complain of more generalized symptoms, such as extreme fatigue or tiredness, visual disturbances, memory loss and sometimes confusion. Since January 2008, Morgellons Disease has been the subject of a CDC investigation, which attempts to establish it's cause, which is currently unproven.

Morgellons fibres

Theories abound as to the cause of the problem, but the key seems to lie with the tiny fibres and/or granules enbedded in the skin. The fibres or filaments are tiny, measuring just a few microns across (a fraction of the size of a human hair) and can be of varying colours, including white, red, blue and black). They frequently group into balls or clumps, giving them the resemblance to similar structures known as "The Morgellons" which were discovered to cause another syndrome in the 17th century, from which they get their name.

Clearly these don't look like anything natural that should be in the body, or even outside the body in nature, although they are said to resemble some hyphae, a filamentous form of fungus. Whilst there may be a similarity, they are at present unidentified in terms of both composition and origin, so don't seem to be in any way natural. The fact that the CDC sees it as a big enough issue to set up a study group is telling and indicative of the level of concern that surrounds the Morgellons disease problem.

One thing that is also unusual about Morgellons Disease is its geographic spread. Unlike most diseases, which are spread around fairly evenly, Morgellons seems to occur in clusters - BIG clusters, suggesting that it may have some environmental or infective origin. In the US (where most Morgellons sufferers live), these centre around California, Texas and Florida, although cases are now showing up elsewhere in the country and in other countries, such as the UK, France and Germany.

There are many theories concerning the origins of Morgellon's Disease, some more credible than others, but what seems to be clear is that this is not a natural phenomenon and that approaches to treating the problem must also be somewhat radical or alternative approach

Medical response to Morgellon's Disease

The way most medics have responded to Morgellon's Disease is reminiscent of other significant new syndromes and diseases that have appeared in recent years - that is to say, it has been ignored, ridiculed, described as "psychosomatic" (from the mind) or otherwise denigrated and put down. There are a few notable exceptions, such as Dr Susan Kolb, who has done some sterling work identifying patients and the microfibres in their lesions, but mainstream medicine just hasn't a clue.

Consequently, Morgellon's disease patients have been "treated" with everything from dangerous psychotropic drugs, to derision and forced stays in "psychiatric" institutions against their will. Clearly, modern medicine has little to offer regarding this problem and alternatives must be sought.

One fascinating approach that has been bearing some significant fruit is the treatment of Morgellon's as an infective process (whether natural or not). This likely stems from the similarity of the "secondary" symptoms described above (tiredness, memory loss, confusion etc) to the group of troublesome diseases with similar symptoms, including lyme disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and even Gulf War syndrome. Recent evidence has raised the possibility that these diseases have so many common features that they are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and may even be the same disease. This has led to some pioneering work with highly effective, non-toxic natural treatments for infection, with astounding results. See Natural treatments for Morgellon's Disease for more information.